Reece Gardner: Acts of love and kindness

I just want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers for me and my family during these difficult days of trying to live without My Emma. As I mentioned to our Sunday School Class this past Sunday, I truly believe that most people in this world are good, and that their hearts are filled with love and compassion, especially for those who are hurting. 

And I also believe that God is with us during our trials & tribulations and that He will never leave nor forsake us. As the words to that wonderful old Hymn proclaim so  convincingly, "The God on the mountain is still God in the valley, the God in the day is still God in the night." And getting back to the goodness in people, I have during these past few days done some research on true-life examples of people helping people. I found example after example of these acts of love and kindness, such as this one: 

It was 1938 in Czechoslovakia and Nicholas Winton, in his late twenties, was a stockbroker from England on a trip to Nazi-occupied Prague. Although Nicholas had been baptized as a child in the Anglican Church, his parents were German Jews. In Prague, he noticed that the city was filled with Jewish orphans, most of whose parents had been killed. 

Nicholas took it upon himself to find families who were willing to adopt these children, and he paid out of pocket to transport them on the train from Prague to London. He managed to actually find homes for 669 children! In 1988, the BBC program That's Life! asked to interview Nicholas about this experience. He was so humble that it took years for him to get any sort of recognition. While the cameras were rolling the BBC gave him a big surprise.

They asked, "Is there anyone in our audience tonight who owes their life to Nicholas Winton? If so, could you please stand up?" Several rows of people surrounding Nicholas stood up. The entire audience was filled with people he had saved and their families. In 2003, the Queen of England knighted him, giving him the well-deserved title of Sir Nicholas Winton. He died in July, 2015, at the age of 106. 

I will now close with a few more examples of the goodness of people: (1) A total stranger, Darin Gruberg, read Kevin Campbell's story from a social media page about needing a kidney. He had never met Kevin but he decided to donate his kidney, and he flew to the hospital for the procedure, which saved Kevin's life; (2) An elderly lady gave a generous tip to a waiter, along with this note: "This tip was given to you because you remind me of my son Deron, who died 15 years ago. You look a little like him, but it was your kind, gentle spirit that made the connection. Thanks for the bitter/sweet memory. God bless you." and (3) There was a news release recently showing a man jumping into swirling water to rescue a child's dog that had fallen in and was about to drown. This man did not even know the child.

Let's all try to help somebody today! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!